Ximen Girls Night Out!

*happily singing* Pictures, pictures, I have pictures! La la la LAAAAAAAAA!!! Andrea is very happy. ^_^ Didn't take as many as I wanted to but I have pictures nonetheless! YAAAAAY!

On to the day's events. Primarily we begin with the Rotary Culture Opening Ceremony. It was really just an introduction, advice giving, and electing session with food at the end! And since it was a Rotary event, of course it was quite enjoyable to attend! As you see in the picture to the right, a Rotarian went around and greeted every student, asking for their name and country. He's a very sweet man and very personal to greet all the students individually!

And just for the fun of it, I included a snap of some great peeps in our district. The chica is Akiko from Texas (holla!) and the chico is Zach from Colorado. Each has big personalities and are great exchange students. Respect!

And hey, hey! Food pictures have returned! The ceremony was held at a place called "KF Chef's Factory" which provided us a buffet line. For 'tea time' I had noodles, veggies, slice of bread and 2 quiche-like-cups. All very delicious. For dessert I somewhat went to town because they had several different desserts worth trying like ice cream, fruit and light treats. I didn't have lunch so I was kinda hungry... It's cool though since we walked a good bit afterwards.

Speaking of since afterwards, I had an outing to Ximen with two other chica exchange students. One from Colorado and the other from Australia. The Australian student has been in Taiwan for 8 months (since exchange time period is different in Australia) so she wanted to show us some places. She first took us to a store that I was not expecting. It was an anime/manga store! I'VE BEEN WANTING TO GO TO ONE OF THESE FOR YEARS!!! We just saunter in and I see stuff like Vocaloid and One Piece, things that are cool but nothing to spaz too much about. Traveling down the first isle, I see it. It. IT!!! I SEE IT! I TOUCH IT! I SPAZ ABOUT IT! SENGOKU BASARA BABY!! (it's a Japanese series, fyi) Just as a note, only one or two people will understand this next part but I have to include it. ;P So doing a little happy dance, I prance/sprint over to the Sengoku Basara section. Here I find items that created the following reactions.

At first I was like this:

 Then I was like this:

Andrea was SUPER-DUPER-BOOMSHAKALAKA-HAPPY!!! It began with fits of unbelieving crying then moved to "OH MY GOSH OH MY GOSH OH MY GOSH!" I would've taken more pictures of the FANTASTIC merchandise but unfortunately I found out the hard way that pictures weren't allowed. Whoops...BUT WHO CARES? THIS STORE WAS SO COOL! kinda pricey though....BUT AWESOME! I wanted to buy every single thing in that little SB section but I am poor. I settled on something I actually saw online and wanted (but didn't get since its price and shipping is a meanie to my wallet). Remember how I mentioned my love/obsession of fans? Well combine what with my love/obsession with the Chosokabe clan and Andrea is sold. LOOK HOW BEAUTIFUL IT IS! ARE YOU SEEING THIS? IT'S GORGEOUS! I HAVE A CHOSOKABE FAN! OHMYLAKDASNLLSJDOGIHASDJF!!!! Seriously people, I am soooooo happy! I was NOT expecting to find something like this, and by this I mean one of my all time favorite things on this Earth. That's how happy it made me. Honestly I still don't belief I bought it even though it's right next to my arm currently. It's...It's...*faint*

*ahem* Excuse that spaz out but it was necessary. Don't worry if you don't understand. ;P I'll continue on to something you will. Waffles! Brittany, the Australian exchange student, next took us to a peaceful cafe that usually has a kitty or two but tonight unfortunately didn't. The other girl, Mariko, wanted to try some Taiwanese waffles and I admit, I also desired to as well since I've seen several delicious looking advertisements around. And the desserts were just that, delicious.

 Brittany had a banana-chocolate waffle with a kiwi smoothie. Very, very tasty as 'nanners' and choco are a excellent combo.

Unfortunately she took the last banana in her order and prevented Mariko to order the same desired waffle. So here she is longingly looking at the treat in sorrow. Don't worry, Brittany was kind enough to share some munchies. ^_^

 My waffle was labeled a "Fruit Waffle & Ice Cream" but it must have been a misprint because there wasn't a lick of ice cream on my order. But that made me very pleased because I didn't want or need any. The fruit by itself was so gratifying! Topped with tidbits of whipped cream and chocolate, this was a very nice medicine to my soul. Even better medicine for my taste buds!

 Last but not least, Mariko ordered the true "Ice Cream Waffle" which was graced with vanilla ice cream and drizzles of chocolate. So we got our waffle-fixs taken care of. That and making great conversation with each other!

 As the final destination, Brittany led us to a favorite cafe of hers which was anime themed. In this tiny place, you can read free manga (in Chinese of course) and be served by Japanese-style-maids. I was shocked because the servers would always bow,  call us "my lady" and speak snip-its of Japanese. But I joined up and served for a bit in my cute uniform. Aren't I adorable? Yeah sure I lost a bunch of weight and changed my hairstyle but it suits me huh? Right? Pfft, of course I didn't. The cardboard cut out was just something fun. :P











For a drink, I ordered a lemon juice because I wondered what it would taste like. I'm so stupid because I forgot that's the definition of lemonade. *face palm* But this beverage wasn't lemonade, rather lemonade without sugar. So it was very tart and acidic. I don't think my stomach liked it too much... I learned my lesson.

On another note, I had fun reading the Chinese version of "FairyTail" and attempting to figure out the plot from just pictures and a few characters. Two men at the cafe said hello and made small chat with us for a short time. One showed us a couple magic tricks from patting a bottle cap into the glass bottle from the bottom and smushing a phone through a balloon. I understand how the balloon one worked but not sure how he accomplished the bottle trick. Soon after we left and ended our adventure, biding each other farewell.

*sigh* I'm in such a state of bliss. It was just so pleasant seeing another part of Taiwan with some great friends. I can't do it very often at all because it quickly sucks up any life in my wallet. And of course I was ecstatic when I was introduced to the anime store. I could've easily blown all my money there. Like on a pillow of snuggly-ness! But it doesn't work out when it costs $20US and is too big to stuff in my suitcase. It made me happy just knowing something like an SB pillow existed. ^_^

In conclusion, today was FANTASTIC. Loved every minute. Must now jog in place to burn off the waffle. :P Oh and drool over the fan I bought. Andrea feels so rejuvenated! And I shall remark once more, I HAVE PICTURES AGAIN, MUAHAHAHAHAHA!!!! >:D